Newsletter #7
Happy (Almost) New Year?
Howdy?
I need to come up with a better greeting. It was so easy in Dublin. Anyway, hello! Happy Boxing Day! I hope everyone has been having a wonderful holiday season and enjoying time with family and friends (as much as you’re able). I come to you with exciting updates and a URL! Actually, it’s just a URL; I have no exciting updates other than that right now. Remember that website I was talking about? Well, it’s live! And you can see it on your own devices!
Isn’t that just dandy? I think it is. Also, all the newsletters are up there, so if you missed a couple and want to catch up, you can! There’s also a ton of information on the three songs I’ve released, so if that interests you, you’re in luck. Speaking of information on my songs, let me know if there’s something I’ve left out that you think should be included (I’m looking at my Poko people). All this to say, I’m pretty proud of this thing and I want you all to look at it.
As for the newsletter, we have to start by leaving Dublin. I woke up at a criminally early time on December 15th. It was so early in the morning that when I texted Simon happy birthday, he was still awake, and it wasn’t his birthday in the States yet. Then I finished packing up my entire life and throwing many things away because you can’t donate bedding, electronics, or clothes for some reason. I gained many blisters on my hands from closing my suitcases. It was a stressful time. Then Finley walked me to the Welcome Desk to check out. She got me a harp necklace, and we’re matching, and it was so cute. But that was the last I saw of UCD because my Uber came, and then it was off to the races! The races being Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport.
I checked my big bag (it was overweight, and I was sad about it), then made it through security after they ran my backpack thrice (it was because I forgot to put a liquid in a plastic bag). If you’re heading to the US from Ireland, they have you go through customs on the Ireland side, which is an excellent system if you ask me. So, I went through customs and got my face scanned by a machine that knew my name (freaky). I got breakfast, sat, and contemplated leaving Ireland for 2 hours because I got to my gate atrociously early.
Once the plane was boarding, getting on was ridiculously easy. At this point, I had gotten used to RyanAir, so anything above that felt like luxury.
I got on the plane and tried to shove my bags into the overhead compartment.
They did not fit
I shoved one of them in
The other bigger one I put by my feet
I was sitting next to a lovely lady from Wells, ME, and we chatted about Maine, which was sweet.
Once the plane was boarded, the lady left and sat in an empty row
She made sure to tell me that it had nothing to do with me
I’m sure you all want to know what I did on the plane, so here is a comprehensive list
I napped for 30 minutes
I knit for an hour
I watched Gladiator and continued knitting
I finished a book
I stared out the window
I got really bored
I texted Aratrika, who was also on a plane but closer to Dubai
Then we landed!
I got off the plane, took a deep breath, and genuinely felt the patriotism surge through my veins (I’m only sort of kidding)
Simon was picking me up from Logan, so I made it off the plane, got my third bag, and went to find him. I kid you not; this car had almost no room for me or my bags. There were 12 plants, two surfboards, an electric drum kit, and probably many other things I left out. But don’t worry, we made it work. And, more importantly, we made it out of Boston.
Once we got to Simon’s, I was able to shower the plane off of me, and then we had dinner! It was still Simon’s birthday, so we ate Indian food his stepmother made us, which was delicious. Now, at this point, I had been awake for over 22 hours, so I’ll stop my testimony there because I’m sure it is entirely unreliable.
The rest of my time in Williamstown was as follows (in no particular order):
We drove to the Clark (it was closed)
I drove home from the Clark (it was easier than I thought it would be)
We went for a walk at one of the Rockefeller mansions and got a personal tour because the people caring for the house knew Simon.
It was perhaps the coolest thing ever
We ate a LOT of sushi
Simon’s car sorta broke down
We ate at Five Corners
They have this breakfast sandwich that genuinely puts all other breakfast sandwiches to shame.
I missed maple lattes.
We drove to Rhinebeck and picked up my car (yay!)
We stopped in Hudson and went to the antique warehouse, which was so much fun.
We schvitzed (sauna and cold plunging)
We hot tubbed
We watched Love Actually
On Thursday, it was time for me to go home, so I took Simon with me! We drove to the Poughkeepsie train station but stopped at Blueberry Hill first (another fantastic breakfast place). Once at the train station, we had to find long-term parking. Plot twist - there were no spots anywhere. So, I drove us all the way home! Luckily there was kind of sort of a spot in the garage.
We got home, unpacked briefly, had Shake Shack for dinner, and then went to Broadway because my lovely mother bought us tickets to Hadestown! It was incredible. At the beginning of the second act, the cello started playing “Take Me To Church,” which I thought was strange, but I later found out it was because Hozier was at that performance. So that was awesome. Once we got home, we decorated the tree, and Simon got the whole ornament breakdown from Mom.
Simon and I walked around the next day. We went to Grey Dog, shopped for numerous Klompus/Hetherington brothers, and found some old high school acquaintances at the Union Square Christmas Market. Then, when everyone (Mom, Dad, and Kylor) who had work/school was done, we went to Arthur Avenue for Italian food and free caroling. I was in the middle of my eggplant parm, and four people dressed in 19th-century garb showed up and started singing carols in the middle of the restaurant. Gotta respect the hustle.
After the fantastic Italian food, we went to the New York Botanical Gardens to see the train show. Kylor and I hadn’t been since we were little, and I think we have a much bigger appreciation for it than we used to. The Gardens created all these historic New York landmarks out of bark and other plant products and had little trains running through them. We then took a much larger train home and called it a night.
On Saturday, we went to Gramercy Tavern for lunch. Everyone got all dressed up, and Kylor got lost on the way there (he went to Gramercy Park). The food was fantastic. Dad got two orders of eggnog, which were both excellent (we then tried to recreate it on Christmas morning and got subpar results). Overall, it was just a wonderful lunch. Directly after our nice fancy lunch, we went to see Gladiator II, which was remarkably gruesome but pretty good!
On Sunday, Simon and I visited Nana and Papa for breakfast and caught up with them. Nana and I also gave Simon an apartment tour, which was very fun. On our way back to the West Village, we stopped at Zabars, which reminded me of why I do not usually stop there. We went home, Simon got his bags, and then I put him on a train to Wassaic, and that was the end of the Tamrin-Simon reunion after 2 months.
Once Simon left, I was forced to unpack and go through all my clothes. For a minute there, I forgot what my floor looked like. But I made it through, and now my room is clean!
The rest of the week is going to be bulletpointed because I’m getting tired of reading paragraphs.
On Monday, I went to the OBGYN
I got my birth control switched from the nexplanon to a hormonal IUD
It hurt
Really really badly
After that, I went home and napped with a heating pad for a while
Then it was Christmas Eve!
Kylor made Tiramisu with homemade ladyfingers.
It was delicious
I made a cranberry orange olive oil cake
It was also delicious
We ate fondue
We cracked Christmas crackers
We sat at a kid's table.
It was really fun tbh
Winston rode the subway home
He did not enjoy it all that much
Then it was Christmas Day!
We opened presents
Mom printed and framed a bunch of photos from abroad for me, and I’m so excited to hang them up.
The whole family came over for breakfast
Kylor and I made eggnog
It was pretty good
We ate shakshuka and bagels and pannatonne
Then we all got ready for the day and made a plan to walk to Queens
I was under the impression that it was going to be a 6-mile walk
I was wrong
We started the walk at 3 pm and made it to Astoria at 6:30
We had walked 10 miles
I was cold and tired
BUT we got the most fantastic Egyptian food I’ve ever had, so it was all worth it
Then we took the train home, got into pjs, and watched Carry On (the Taron Egerton Christmas terrorism movie)
And now it’s Boxing Day, and I released my website! And sent out a newsletter! And that’s it! Thanks for spending some of your day reading my silly words and checking out my more serious website. I love you all, and I hope you are doing well. Tell me about your New Year’s plans! Don’t tell me about your New Year's resolutions. I fear I will jinx them.
With all my love and also a new website,
Tamrin Ghai
Timmy Two Shoes
